Vehicle-tongue support.



No. 821,218. PATENTED MAY 22, 1906.

S. GHRISGO. VEHICLE TONGUE SUPPORT.

APPLIGATION FILED 811F129, 1905.

UNITED STATES PATnN'r option.

SHELVEY OHRISOO, OF COBALT, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN W. COPELAND, OF COBALT, MISSOURI.

VEHICLE-TONGUE SUPPORT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 22, 1906.

Application filed September 29, 1905. Serial No. 280,628.

To rtZZ whont it may concern:

Be it known that I, SHELVEY OnRIsoo, a citizen of the United States, residing at O0- balt, in the county of Howell and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle-Tongue Supports, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to tongue-supports for vehicles, one of the objects being to provide a device of the character described that shall yieldingly hold the tongue or pole in a horizontal position, thus relieving the necks of the horses from the strain of supporting the tongue in horizontal or elevated position.

It has heretofore been a common occurrence for horses necks to become rubbed or galled and made extremely sore and sensitive by reason of the weight of heavy wagontongues, and the burden imposed upon the animals necks by said tongue or pole is usually augmented whenever a heavy load is drawn or when the road is rough and uneven, as the swaying of the load or the plunging of the front wheels of the vehicles into cavities or ruts tends to throw the outer end of the tongue or pole violently downward or sidewise with a momentum governed largely by the weight of the tongue. The purpose of my invention is to obviate these and other objectionable features.

A further object is to provide means for holding a vehicle-tongue or pole in approximately a horizontal position,and which shall be simple and inexpensive in construction and readily attached to any vehicle, and that will obviate the necessity of raising the end thereof whenever it is necessary or desirable to hitch horses to a vehicle, and also preventing the outward end of the tongue or pole from dropping onto the ground when unhitching.

It is frequently necessary to unhitch and leave vehicles standing on wet or muddy ground, and the constant dropping of the end of the tongue into the mud or wet causes the same to decay, whereas by the use of my invention it is always held in an elevated position.

Other objects and advantages of my invention, as well as the stuctural features by means of which these objects are attained, will be made clear by an examination of the specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference-numerals indicate corresponding portions throughout, and in which Figure 1 shows the front end of a wagonframe, the rear end of the tongue, and the application of my device. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on lines 2 2 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a detail of parts.

1 designates the front end of a wagonframe of well-known construction, the same comprising two outer hounds having pivotally mounted thereon, as shown in Fig. 1, the inner hounds 2 and the tongue 3; Vertical blocks or projections 4 rest on the top of these outer hounds and support a cross-bar 5, which is connected with the hounds in any suitable manner, preferably by bolts passing through the projections or blocks 4 and held in place by nuts, as shown. Secured to the under side of said cross-bar by any means whereby it may be easily and readily removed is a plate 6, made of metal or any suitablematerial. Connecting the ends of the hounds 2 and the rear end of the tongue 3 are cross bars or braces 7, having removably secured thereto a plate 8, preferablymetallic for the purposes of durability. Secured to the upper plate 6 and also to the lower plate 8, if preferred, are three spiral or coil springs 9, each having depending in the center thereof to a point approximately midway between the two plates 6 and 8 a bolt or lug 10 for purposes which will hereinafter be made clear. In Fig. 3 is shown the plates 6 and 8 having the coil or spiral springs 9 between them and showing bolt-holes, whereby said plates are preferably secured in place.

It is obvious that the springs 9 may be secured to either the upper or lower plate, or they may be unattached and held in place by the tension thereof against said plates, or small lugs may project upward from the lower plate and within thecoil-springs, which in conjunction with the bolts or lugs 10 will hold said springs removably in position.

In operation it will be observed that the tongue 3 and the inner hounds 2- are pivotally mounted on extending ends of the wagon frame or hounds 1 by means of a rod or bolt 11, and the rear end of the inner hounds 2 and the tongue 3 extend beneath the plate 8 and have exerted against them the tension of the coil or spiral springs 9, which thereby hold the forward end of the. tongue in an elevated or horizontal position, according to the size and tension of said springs and the force they exert on the lower plate 8. The depending bolts or lugs 10 operate to limit the downward movement of the forward end of the tongue when the springs are not strong enough to hold said tongue in elevated posi tion by contacting with the lower plate.

a It is manifest that if the spiral or coil springs be of sufiicient tension they will hold the forward end of the tongue sufficiently elevated, so that no Weight of the same will rest upon the horses necks when they are hitched to the vehicle to which my device may be attached and that the height to which the forward end of the tongue or pole may be held elevated depends upon the strength and tension of the springs, as many springs being used as are found necessary or desirable.

While I have described and shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that certain changes in form and arrangement of parts will suggest themselves to the skilled mechanic; but such changes come well within the scope and spirit of my invention, and I therefore do not desire to be limited to the exact construction and arrangement shown.

Having thus described my said invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A vehicle-tongue support comprising, in combination, the tongue, the outer, and the inner vehicle-hounds, a cross-bar carried by the outer hounds, with a frame interposed between the cross-bar and the inner hounds and tongue, said frame comprising an upper and a lower plate, the upper plate being secured to the cross-bar and extending longitudinally thereof, and the lower plate being secured to the inner hounds and extending parallel with the upper plate, said lower plate also being adapted to be engaged by the tongue, coil-springs arranged between the plates and adapted to exert their tension against same, and lugs or bolts carried by the upper frame and extending downwardly through the coil-springs to approximately half of the distance between the two plates to prevent lateral displacement of the springs and also to limit the movement of the lower plate.

2. A vehicle-tongue support comprising, in combination, the tongue, the outer, and the inner vehicle-hounds, of vertical projections carried by the outer hounds, a cross-bar connecting the projections and being sup ported thereby, a plate secured to the under side of the cross-bar and extending longitudi- 'nally thereof, a plate secured to the inner hounds and connecting the same, said platebeing parallel with and beneath the first-mentioned plate, coil-springs secured to the upper plate and adapted to be engaged by the lower plate, said springs being adapted to exert their tension against both plates, and lugs depending from the upper plate and arranged to extend inside of the coil-springs to prevent lateral displacement thereof, and also to limit the movement of the lower plate.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SHELVEY OHRISCO.

WVitnesses:

JOHN LYNN WALKER, LEE WELoH. 

